SuperMutant Magic Academy: A Graphic Novel by Jillian Tamaki

Library Copy

It's been long enough since I've written about a graphic novel, and that's not because I haven't been reading them - I absolutely have. It's just challenging to write reviews for individual TP's, so I avoid doing it. But when a graphic novel is a stand-alone thing, that makes my job easier.

Jillian Tamaki is probably best known as the illustrator of the now mandatory Summer Reading assignment for some very lucky middle-school kids - This One Summer. I'd remarked in that review of how jealous I was of her ability to draw such fluid characters and stunning landscapes. SuperMutant Magic Academy was a web-comic Tamaki made, and I have to say I kind of enjoyed seeing her art improve over the course of the series.
Each comic is brief but snarky, dark, and bitingly honest. You get a good idea of Tamaki's sense of humor, but it's a good description of the modern teen & young adult. Sure, it's set in a high-school almost Hogwarts-esque or like Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, but there's no acknowledgement that this school is especially special or woo-woo or anything like that. The students are all still teen-aged dirt-bags, and that's kinda refreshing.

I enjoyed this collection of comics, having read a few online over the years but never kept up with the web series as a whole, it's nice to be given the chance to read them all at once like this. It's also really refreshing to see talented illustrators I know from a web presence break into the publishing industry. (I mean, publishers would really have to be foolish to completely ignore that amount of popularity. That's what we like to call "leaving money on the table.") Now, what comic book will I read next time I'm waiting for my friends to meet me for coffee on Sunday mornings?

Uzumaki

Amazon Used

I was actually really excited to read this graphic novel. I've been seeking it out since it first dropped in America around 2002. I know - 12 years seems like a long time to wait to read a comic book, but understand that the nature of manga in the early aughts was that it was an expensive hobby for a teenager. Finally, the stars aligned and I was able to find it as an omnibus for a great price - also, I'm an adult with a job and I can actually afford that kind of hobby.

So, we've already talked about how difficult it is for horror stories to scare me. I'm not much of a sucker for the genre - in fact most attempts to scare me, I can't take seriously. It's a rare novel that will actually get under my skin, so to speak. Uzumaki did that. Because a lot of themes in horror are actually absurd, sometimes the line between stupid and scary can be easy to cross. But count on the Japanese to remove the line entirely. I mean, it's a combination of stupid and scary. There's no picking sides, there's no side to pick. And full disclosure, I don't mean "so stupid it's scary," like, you know, real life can sometimes be. I mean, the Japanese are so completely "odd-ball" by our Western standards that a lot of what is actually really scary about this manga could also be just complete weirdness.

This was weird at times, but I got the feeling that Junji Ito started off with this one crazy idea - for a man to become obsessed with the swirl pattern to the point of grotesqueness (he kills himself by forcing his body to become a swirl) - and had to apply swirls and spirals into the ongoing comic in whatever creative way he could manage. Mangaka are on such a demanding work schedule, they aren't ever given a lot of time to plan out their ideas, so sometimes the stories seem forced and don't work out very well, and sometimes they're really successful. This isn't dissimilar to the way Stephen King (in particular) works, actually.
Because this was a complete collection of the series, there were a few subtle details you notice when looking at the work as a whole instead of having collected the series book by book. For instance, early on, the series starts slow, but steady. Our heroine, Kirie, watches as her boyfriend's family is driven insane by any natural occurrence of spirals. When he loses both parents, natural spirals steadily begin effecting other people. Curls in your hair, snails, metal springs, ect. - all these become unlikely, yet all the more horrifying, killers. Though it's clear that when Junji Ito had his ending in sight, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with it. On a whole, it became creepier and creepier as the series progressed. It may be *gasp* my new favorite horror book!

Besides the story, it also had beautiful illustrations - in manga, it's unusual to see characters that are actually distinctive in ways besides haircuts and gender (sometimes, not even that!). But that wasn't the case here. Also, Kirie is one of those great feminist characters you don't get to see much in comic books. She's girly and loyal - in fact, her loyalty is her real strength. I disagree that feminist heroes can't have love, and must be bombastic. They can be, you know, regular, realistic girls too! They can be pretty, but don't have to be sexy. Kirie is all that!

Uzumaki might be my new favorite horror!!

Adventure Time with Fionna & Cake: Double Feature

There are times when you need something fun and frivolous to read. Sometimes you need to give the ole' think-gut a rest, you know what I mean? I'd spent the last few weeks investing a lot of time reading a certain 800+ paged novel, only to have a it spoiled by a jerk friend. (There are some spoilers that just happen, and it can be forgiven. But this was a particularly asshole way to do it.) I'm pretty angry about it - I was just innocently reading and enjoying my book when this happens, and before you ask, no it wasn't Game of Thrones related. So I had to put it away (instead of just sitting around waiting for the axe to drop) and read something else to get my mind off of things.

Local Comic Store

Amazon Smile

So I opted to read some spin-offs of a cartoon franchise I really enjoy.
Even as a kid, I wasn't a fan of licensed books or series' that had too many sequels. I especially didn't trust books without a real author, feeling as if they were somehow illegitimate. But if they were part of a franchise I liked enough, I would want to give that franchise all of my money. Such is the way with Adventure Time's Fionna and Cake. I have been a fan of them since Natasha Allegri first posted her cute and very accurate comic strips on her Tumblr. I sure hope she's getting royalties from these spin-offs or something, because I'm going to continue buying anything Fionna and Cake related as long as they keep making them. Mainly on the grounds that actual episodes featuring them on the Adventure Time cartoon are rare, but also because I believe in supporting things that I think are awesome.

So, I read both the comic (at press time, there is only one volume - I don't know if there will be any more in the future) and a children's novella called "Queen of Rogues" - which was advertised as a romance novel, but there wasn't any romance to speak of.
First, the comic book. As it was helmed by Natasha herself (she did some writing and illustrating) it felt the most legitimate. At least, you get a more authentic feel of her original Fionna and Cake characters, which early on didn't seem like gender bent versions of Finn and Jake, but were their own things. Fionna and Cake are heavily influenced in both art and story by Japanese Shojo manga, which feels very natural with Natasha's art and story telling, as well as with the other artists and writers who wrote and illustrated for this comic.
The only issue I had was that the story telling was that it was a little too light, whimsical, and simplistic. (It started off brilliantly with the Flame Queen.) I remembered the original strips were really funny, though they might have been a little inappropriate too. I think the publishers were too afraid to go as dark as Cake leaving dead mice in Fionna's bed - maybe because that might be too intense for their little girl audiences. (I don't know, at that age I'd seen my cats do plenty of f**ked up things and I still like cats just fine.) I hope we do get further issues so that we can see more of Natasha's cutesy but still very wicked wit shine through.

Now for Queen of Rouge's - an obviously ghost-written franchise novella for younger readers. Actually, it was really well written and interesting. It was released with another book starring Jake the Dog and Lady Rainicorn, which was really romancey, but from what I saw of it, really stupid. This story was supposed to tell some of the background of how Fionna and Cake were introduced to Prince Bubblegum and Marshall Lee the Vampire King. I seriously doubt that any of it is cannon, but try convincing your kids that. I can see both young boys and girls enjoying this book, if you're a parent having a hard time getting your children to enjoy books.

This One Summer

Local Comic Shop

This graphic novel co-created between two cousins has been somewhat buzzy this summer. Because the whole aura surrounding this book is clearly "Summer-time memories" it was important that I read this book before summer technically ended. I live in Louisiana, and as anyone who has ever spent a full year on the Gulf Coast knows, "seasons" can be misleading.

This is a beautiful graphic novel about two childhood best friends who met every summer at their coastal cabins, catching up on the past year. This really does remind me very strongly of my own childhood - spending weekends at my Godmother's beach house and those special friends who, even if you only see them on rare occasions, being around them is like they were never apart. Even listening to Rush with my Dad and not being able to appreciate it (yet) - in fact it's one of those strange and very specific coincidences that I have in common with this book.
They are now on the cusp of adolescence, which is a formative time for most people. There are the obviously, glaringly regrettable childhood crushes. The parroting disdain for parents who are having marital troubles. The discovery of horror movies. The things they see and feel this summer will likely mold who they will become later on. Or, at least, that's what I couldn't stop thinking as I was reading all the small-town, everyday drama which seems so much bigger at this age. Unlike with most YA, reading this felt more nostalgic than something I was reading for funsies even knowing that I was reading something I was too old for.

Then there's the beautiful art. Not only are the characters fluid, expressive, and interesting to look at - the background art (something that I'm not personally very strong at drawing) is just as beautiful. I'm very very jealous of Jillian's skill. You want to absorb the art through your eyes as much as possible - you don't want to look away, but you're also too excited to see what's in the next panel. That's a good feature in comic books that you can't find in a traditional novel - when each individual panel is choc-a-bloc full of information and detail and you just can't look away from it. It's visual poetry.

This graphic novel is classified as Young Adult, but I'm not sure I would share this one with kids - not because it's particularly inappropriate or maybe I'm taking for granted the maturity of your child. There's nothing particularly wrong with sharing this with kids (except for some objectionable language) Rather, because I feel like until a certain age, they don't have the backwards perception to appreciate it. So you could read it at 15 and dislike it until you read it again at 30 and it clicks - some books can be like that.

Jane the Fox & Me

Amazon (used)

You know, guys, I've been pretty lucky to have been able to befriend one of my idols in the year since I've graduated college. As an adult, it's nice to find someone as passionate about children's books and illustrations (someone who gets as sucked in by the pretty pictures as everything else) as I tend to be. Last week, Denise G. sent me a text saying that I had to read this book - and I immediately set out for it.

Not only, as you can see, is the book beautifully illustrated, but the story was a very personal one for me.
Helene is a little girl at that terrible, awkward age who is being bullied at school. What most people forget about bullying is that middle school bullies aren't necessarily pugnacious juveniles who steal lunch money and throw spit balls at the back of your head in class. Nor or they rich-bitches a la "Mean Girls." They are, more often then not, kids who come from "good" families, who your mother allowed to have for sleep-overs. Though I was never out-right bullied in school, not to the point where they made my life unbearable, I do remember the time I was targeted. Incidentally, that was around the age I discovered the book that would eventually become my all time favorite - Jane Eyre.
Jane Eyre helps Helene cope with her belittling ex-friends as well. I will save the discussion of why I love Jane Eyre, why she makes an excellent role model for girls and women of all ages, why that book is so perfect and amazing and every time I re-read it I gain some new insight into my soul. Or rather, I will save you from the discussion. Because there are only 24 precious hours in a day and you probably have important things to do. The important thing is that Helene gets it. Maybe that means she's my kindred spirit in that way, hopefully you are too.

This was a brief, but bittersweet read. Buy it, read it, and share it with any little girls (or heck even boys - why not??) you might know around this age that's struggling with school bullies. (hopefully they'll become curious and try to read Jane Eyre as well! *fingers crossed!*)

Here's a bonus page to look at - it's one of my favorites:

Seconds, anyone?

Comic fans everywhere are excited to see Bryan Lee O'Malley's newest graphic novel, Seconds, to be released. Well, some comic fans. It's not everyone's cup of tea. I'm one of those - Scott Pilgrim, the major title that O'Malley is well known for - is a series I pointedly disliked. I liked the cute, quirky art and character designs. I got exhausted pretty quickly with the constant pop-culture references, though. And then there's Scott Pilgrim, the titular character himself - I couldn't stand him. I get that the major appeal to this series is that readers associated with him, but God, why would you want to? Scott Pilgrim is pretty horrible. I understand that if you stuck around for longer than the first volume, the way that I didn't, he undergoes a character development. But this is a good example of one of those times when I just couldn't waste my time waiting for it to happen. I'm not going to consume precious time and money waiting for an annoying character to finally become likable after 5 volumes or whatever. I'm sorry, I'll sit that one out, thanks though.
Granted, I am the Pope of "You Should Read The Book Instead of Watching The Movie, Because If You're Only Going To Do One, Reading is Better." But this is one of those times when I saw the movie instead. My friends sort of threw that back into my face (you know, "well, you should have read the books instead." But if you lean in close you can hear me whisper, "Shut up, I do what I want.")   It didn't make me love Scott Pilgrim any more, but I got a crash course on the series. I also didn't read Lost at Sea, though it seemed like a better choice for me. On the other hand, there's still that problem with characters being really bratty, shallow, and annoying.

It's about that time that I admit that this isn't a review for Seconds. I haven't read it yet, but I've read the premise and I think I wouldn't mind it. It seems marginally more mature and interesting. (I mean "mature" as in "grown up," btw) I've stated my feelings on O'Malley's works, but if any of you have read this book and would still recommend it to me (or not!), please leave a comment! Maybe this will be the book that will change my mind.

Beautiful Darkness

local comic shop

I saw an article for this comic book on BuzzFeed and I knew I had to have it. The art is simple and cute, but the artist has some obvious chops, as is displayed in various points of realism. The art was something I was really excited about, so allow me to geek out over it for a bit. I feel like this book is going to be a lasting influence on me and an artist and writer. If you're familiar with the Finnish series of children's books (and cartoons) called The Moomins, this style is not dissimilar. Also, I'm personally a huge fan of water color and pencil lines in my own work, which is the predominate medium used here. Though, personally I can never quiet pull it off as effortlessly as is done here. In fact, this comic was originally published in France - this is not my first French comic, but it is enough that I can say that I love French and Belgian comics - particularly their illustration and sequential narratives (something you pay more attention to when you can't speak the language). Luckily, this book is in English now.

The story is described as an "anti-fairy tale." I would have to correct you if you would describe it as Grimm-Like, because people are under the false impression about the Brothers' Grimm fairy tales. It is dark and creepy, but largely the horrifying thing is the naivety of the cute little characters. If it's read as a fable, it can be seen as a message about our own oblivious society. But I have so many questions about this book - is Aurora (the cute little girl centered around the story) the soul of another little girl? Are her friends dying off as the body decays - do they represent other parts of the ego? Have I been doing too much research on Jungian theory in fairy tales? Am I completely over thinking this?? Probably.

This was a quick read - I finished it along with my Sunday morning coffee. But it's a delight. Though the art is cuter than a buttermilk biscuit, I still wouldn't, say, give it to a child to read. It is disturbing at times, so consider the child's maturity before handing it off to them. It can still be easily enjoyed by adults, as well.

Will o' The Wisp: An Aurora Grimeon Story

Local Comic Shop

This is a graphic novel I bought only after looking at the cover - a grave mistake indeed. But what a cover! It's hardcover and perhaps you can see well designed, but the best part is the little gilt-metal clasp on the side - like an ancient text. I didn't even trouble myself with trying to open the book in the store - lust took over and I walked straight to the check out.
Alas. I should have known not to trust it. (gosh darn it!) The art wasn't all that. In fact, it kind of sucked. I try to be nice and encouraging to other artists, because even I know that sometimes my own abilities can be easily criticized. But... there is no reason this should have been allowed to pass. The style was dated and a Emily The Strange/ Invader Zim knock-off - and it just wasn't good. The colors were muddled, flat, and blah. The character designs weren't very good either, for instance sometimes the men's expressions were feminine and constipated. And Aurora's upper lip looked like a row of tiny teeth, which I had a hard time over looking and figuring out. The writing wasn't much better either: it was riddled with plot holes. I suppose writing for comics can be difficult and different when you aren't used to it. I can imagine the meetings between the author and artist were enthusiastic, because starting a project like this for the first time would be really exciting, but they needed more than enthusiasm. I hope they'll have learned from the mistakes they made for their 2nd time.

So, what happens here is that teenaged Aurora, as lone survivor of her family, is placed in her Grandfather's care. Her Grandfather is an eccentric old man who lives in a Louisiana swamp. The majority of the residents of this swamp are very superstitious - and even more so as friends and family are being found dead (not long after Aurora's arrival). As a Louisiana native, I personally cringe a little at all the misconceptions, but whatever. I'm kind of used to it and expect it. Besides, the inaccuracies aren't really the worst parts, they just don't redeem any of it.
I probably should have taken more of this is stride because it's supposed to be for teenagers, which means I'm probably too old and pretentious for. Still, it felt like a waste of my time and money. I ended up handing it off to one of my teen-aged cousins.

The She-Hulk Diaries

I'd forgotten altogether about this crazy, insane idea that Marvel Comics had earlier this year - to take some well liked heroines and write them into Chick-Lit. Now, I'm all about comic book publishers pulling in more female readers, or more importantly giving their existing female readers more attention. And, I think I speak for most of us when I say this isn't exactly what we had in mind.
But it isn't not what we had in mind either? I see this as a risky move on Marvel's part, but mad props all the same.
So I have in my hands a romance novel: Okay. A romance novel about She-Hulk: Ooooookaaaay... Marvel has a lot of cool heroines and personally Shulky is about the most ironic and hilarious choice you could make for a romance novel. It's no wonder so many of us were feeling a little hedgy about it.

Let me start with the Cons, as I'm sure we can't ignore their existence: This book wasn't wholly original - it was basically Bridget Jones' Diary: She-Hulk edition. That might be fine actually - I don't know many women who don't genuinely love Bridget Jones' Diary, so you could pretend it was just a coincidence and not let that bother you. I tried this, and it helped some. But not enough to make me un-wish the wish I'd made about it being more original. Besides, there's a new Bridget Jones book out that more readers will be interested in instead.
Putting that aside, this book doesn't disappoint because it's exactly what you would expect from it: cheesy, but fun! Don't expect more than that - that's exactly what comic books and romance novels have in common. (I'm personally not crazy about modern comic books that get on the dark, gritty side - I feel like those quite miss the point of what it is to be a comic book)

Manga Manifesto, Bride's Story, and Sakuran

I made a promise to talk about every book I've read from cover to cover - I also made a promise to talk a little about everything I read while away on vacation, and that it would be a lot. But I've never written reviews for comic books until now. Interestingly, because I've been a huge fan of manga since I was 13. College almost killed that joy, but in the past year I've reconciled with it.
A note on comics, manga, and shojo: Manga might not be as popular now as it has been in the last few years. That's okay, because it's still really huge. I understand that in the wide, wide world people still think of comic books as "for the boys," and that's still largely true - in American comics. With the introduction of manga in the US, and the shojo genre with it, there was finally something on the market for girls to read. I understand that Marvel and DC have tried (with limited success) to introduce something marketed towards girls. The thing is, they always seem completely clueless as to how to navigate those waters. I really think the popularity of manga has a lot to do with having a HUGE female audience. In 2001, I was one of those kids that helped make manga so popular. Manga, particularly CLAMP's Cardcaptor Sakura, introduced me to comic books. In the early oughts the quality and quantity of manga available doesn't compare with what it is today. Anime and manga was still a very niche market. It was rare and expensive, but the fans didn't take themselves so seriously and it was still, well, fun. All the same, when people tell me that girls don't read comic books, I think of shojo manga - a genre made for and adored by women all over the world.

Comics makes great beach reads, too. It's a breeze to read through and doesn't take the same amount of concentration that novels require. Personally, I find it hard to read anywhere that isn't perfectly quiet and private. Hotel rooms with TV's blaring, bustling pool sides, etc can be very distracting to me, even when they don't mean to be - I'm particular about my surroundings. But when I'm reading comics, none of that is an issue. That's how during this trip I managed to read 5 volumes of manga and a leetle bit of Clash of Kings.

I started the series Bride's Story by Kaoru Mori - the first three volumes of it, at least. Bride's Story is gorgeously illustrated and richly detailed. I'm personally a big fan of historic fiction and costume drama, and if you are too that this'll be your cuppa. Bride's Story is set in Central Asia's Silk Road, a setting that isn't often seen fictionalized in Western literature. That alone makes it worth a read, in my opinion.

It's about a young boy who takes a 20 year old woman from a semi-nomadic tribe as a wife. As you can imagine, there is some nudity, but it's nothing I think you'd try to hide your kids from. ... Unless it's that big of a deal to you. Honestly, it's a beautiful series with a very sweet story. Of all the manga I read this week, it's probably the best written. Even if you don't read graphic novels very often, I think this would still be interesting to a lot of women. Volume 1 introduced us to the characters and world, but not in the tired, worn out way that manga usually does it. In Volume 2, Amar (our favorite bride, who is really more of a big sister character - tough, but sweet) makes a new friend. There is some fighting over her - this is some of the family politics of the time, but it's basically resolved. Volume 3 is where the drama picks up. In fact, Amar and her child groom Karluk are barely in it. The volume ended on a cliff hanger involving a character that initially wasn't much more than a dippy side character. So I'm eagerly waiting to get my grubby little paws on volume 4.

If you're as curious about the daily lives of women and families on the silk road as you are dramatic stories - thinking along the lines of  Downton Abbey of Central Asia and The Silk Road - I do recommend this series highly.
I've quickly become a fan of Kaoru Mori's work, and it's surprising that I'm only discovering her now. She's well known for Emma, which speaking of Downton Abbey, is Victorian romance about a maid, as Kaoru Mori is a bit of an anglophile. It won't be long before I pick up that manga series as well.

The next manga title I read over vacation was a one volume, shrink wrapped title called Sakuran ("Derangement" in English). Sakuran is set in Japan's Edo period, in the "pleasure quarter," about a courtesan. In other words, it's about a Japanese prostitute. Fun Facts About "Oirans": The way you could tell the difference between a geisha and courtesan at the time is the way that they tied their Obis. Geisha's tied theirs in the back while courtesans tied theirs in the front for easier access. Otherwise, they had a few things in common.
In Sakuran, Kiyoha is sold to a brothel at a young age and is trained from a maid up until she becomes one of the most popular courtesans in the house. She's very sassy and rude, which doesn't make her very popular in the brothel - all the other women she lives with basically hate her. But, that kind of spunk and feminine wiles makes her very popular with customers. The story doesn't so much center around how competitive her life is, but the impossibility of love. As bold and brash as she is, her story is very tragic.
As I've said, it's a shrink wrapped manga, which you understand means one thing - it's for mature readers only, please. But it means another thing, too. Shrink Wrapped Manga was pretty common in the late 90's not because so much of it was for mature audiences, but because the glue was so cheap. Bending the spin while reading, even just a little bit, meant that pages would drop out. I haven't seen that as often lately with manga, but that is definitely true here. If possible, try to read it online instead of buying a hard copy - or watch the movie is you're so inclined.

Dumb Valentine's Day Comic

Here's a truly stupid Valentine's Day inspired comic. Because if F. Scott Fitzgerald were still alive, he could get wit dis.